The reason I kept going back to New Orleans each year was not just for its charm and passion and wonderful atmosphere. It was for the jazz and blues and the wonderful historic musicians who gave so much to American culture and for the most got so little back. It was the thing I looked forward to most all year. Going to New Orleans was my salvation. My balm. It was my restorative energy. Now I'm sad to say, many of these musicians are missing and possibly dead. I've been having a really hard time with this... It's so hard to fathom.
I saw Fats Domino, who is missing, play at the Jazz Fest and Irma Thomas was a big favorite of mine as well. I remember going to the Lion's Den and just enjoying the food (that she cooked) as she sang her soul numbers. The Lion's Den is gone and she is missing. She had a life of hardship, to be sure, let's hope it hasn't ended this way.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168122,00.html
'Fats' Domino Missing in New Orleans
Thursday, September 01, 2005
By Roger Friedman
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BACKGROUND |
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Missing Musicians | Ellen to the Rescue | Club Conflict
Katrina Benefits Should Acknowledge Local Legends
Before
NBC, MTV or anyone else puts on a telethon to help victims of Hurricane
Katrina, they might want to explore some ancillary issues. To wit: New
Orleans is a city famous for its famous musicians, but many of them are
missing. Missing with a capital M.
To begin with, one of the city’s most important legends, Antoine "Fats" Domino,has not been heard from since Monday afternoon. Domino’s rollicking
boogie-woogie piano and deep soul voice are not only part of the Rock
'n' Roll Hall of Fame but responsible for dozens of hits like “Blue
Monday,” “Ain’t That a Shame,” “Blueberry Hill” and “I’m Walking (Yes,
Indeed, I’m Talking).”
Domino, 76, lives with his wife Rosemary and daughter in a three-story pink-roofed house in New Orleans’ 9th ward, which is now under water.
On Monday afternoon, Domino told his manager, Al Embry of Nashville, that he would “ride out the storm” at home. Embry is now frantic. Calls have been made to Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s
office and to various police officials, and though there’s lots of
sympathetic response, the whereabouts of Domino and his family remain a
mystery.
In the meantime,
another important Louisiana musician who probably hasn’t been asked to
be in any telethons is the also legendary Allen Toussaint. Another Rock Hall member, Toussaint wrote Patti LaBelle’s hit “Lady Marmalade” and Dr. John’s “Right Place, Wrong Time.”
His
arrangements and orchestrations for hundreds of hit records, including
his own instrumentals “Whipped Cream” and “Java” are American staples.
(He also arranged Paul Simon’s hit, “Kodachrome.”) Last
night, Toussaint was one of the 25,000 people holed up at the New
Orleans Superdome hoping to get on a bus for Houston’s Astrodome. I
know this because he got a message out to his daughter, who relayed to
it through friends.
Also not heard from by friends through last night: New Orleans’s “Queen of Soul” Irma Thomas, who was the original singer of what became the Rolling Stones’ hit, “Time is On My Side.” Let’s
hope and pray it is, because while the Stones roll through the U.S. on
their $450-a-ticket tour, Thomas is missing in action. Her club, The
Lion’s Den, is under water, as are all the famous music hot spots of
the city.
Similarly, friends are looking for Antoinette K-Doe, widow of New Orleans wild performer Ernie K-Doe.
The Does have a famous nightspot of their own on N. Claiborne Avenue,
called the Mother-in-Law Lounge, in honor of Ernie’s immortal hit, “The
Mother-in-Law Song.” Ernie K-Doe, who received a 1998 Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, died in 2001 at age 65.
Dry and safe, but in not much better shape, is the famous Neville family of New Orleans. Aaron Neville and many members of the family evacuated on Monday to Memphis, where they are now staying in a hotel. But most of the Nevilles’ homes are destroyed, reports their niece and my colleague at “A Current Affair,” Arthel Neville. She went down to her hometown yesterday and called me from a boat that was trying to get near town.
“This
isn’t like having two feet of water in your basement,” she said,
holding back tears. “Everything is destroyed. I am just so lucky to
have been born here and to have had the experience of New Orleans." She
confirmed that there had been rumors of dead bodies floating around her
Uncle Aaron’s house yesterday. So far, the Nevilles are unannounced to
participate in Friday’s TV telethon. And
still there are plenty of other famous musicians associated with New
Orleans who would probably like to be on TV if they’re high and dry. The Marsalis
family comes from the city, and they’ve played at most of the well
known clubs like Tipitina’s, The Maple Leaf, Preservation Hall and
Muddy Waters.
New Orleans
is also one of the few cities with a House of Blues. And Jimmy Buffet’s
Margharitaville Café chain has a local franchise that is still an
attraction. New Orleans’
trademark sounds are Cajun and Zydeco. So far none of the listed
benefits have named an act that plays that kind of music.
;)
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